The Shame of the Adonis
by Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel
Summary: Recovering from his ordeal in Shadowhaunt, a weak Avalon ventures forth into the hallways of Alfea to escape the prison of his hospital room. He encounters the Adonis of Alfea.


**The Shame of the Adonis**

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Winx Club. Rights go to Rainbow and Iginio Straffi.

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><p>Avalon spent a week in bed recuperating from his ordeal in Shadowhaunt. Ofelia personally attended to his injuries and kept him away from the students. Headmistress Faragonda had explained what his imposter had done under his name. He could not help but be righteously angry at what the imposter had done, especially to one of the students, a student named Bloom, the last of Domino's royal family. He remembered particularly well the war that froze Domino. He had lost many friends then.<p>

Avalon had restricted himself to the hospital wing. He was malnourished and physically weak. He kept especially to his room because he did not really want to face the mess his doppelganger had left behind. In the time that he had been locked up, he had missed much about the happenings of the world. On the first day, he had slept and slept. On the second day, he felt just as weak and wanted to die so he slept and slept. The third day, he felt immeasurably better. His health had deteriorated rapidly during his captivity so it would take months to feel normal again but sleep and food were doing him good. His muscles had atrophied and walking more than maybe the length of Alfea would result in him feeling dizzy. His biologically clock had been thrown for a loop in Shadowhaunt. It seemed that it had always been nighttime there and that is why Avalon preferred the darkness of the night to light of the day. The sun was too bright for his poor eyes.

On the third night, he risked leaving his room in the hospital wing to walk the length corridor. He had had enough of prisons and his room in the hospital wing was no different. No one was awake. There was only the sound of his shoes on the tiled floor. He recognised certain hallways and objects for it was not his first time seeing Alfea.

He walked for a time just wondering. He had no idea what was going to happen to him now. He wondered if he even had a career at the school anymore.

He started to feel winded. Avalon found a set of stairs and sat down. Perspiration cooled his forehead. He looked at his hands: they were gaunt. His hair was thin and it had inevitably grayed.

He was afraid to know how much he had aged. Could he brave looking at a mirror?

How could he have let himself get captured by the Shadow Phoenix? He cursed himself for letting himself get captured.

"What are you doing here?"

Avalon's first instinct was to put himself in the brightest place possible. He had developed a fear of shadows that, although seemed completely irrational, was justified in the fact that Darkar had attacked him many times through the creative use of shadows. He thought of running to the window where moonlight poured through the glass. A figure stood at the top of the staircase. Darkness cloaked him.

Him.

It was most definitely not a student.

The figure was tall and built. He wore leather boots and dark slacks with what seemed like a loose-hanging shirt.

Avalon struggled to stand up and maybe make his way back to his room.

"Stay where you are. I know who you are." The voice was smooth as a stone tenderly washed by a river but cold as ice. Avalon shivered. He did not want to meet another person.

The person descended the stairs like a ghost. He made no sound.

Moonlight ascended his legs, then his chest and arms and then finally, his face.

He had piercing citrine eyes that were like finely cut jewels and glowed in the darkness of the hallway and hair spun of the purest sunlight-stained gold streaked rebellious copper. His skin was unblemished and smooth as a marble statue. Avalon almost made the mistake of thinking that an enchanted statue was coming to check on him but this Adonis was very much alive.

He could not help but think how very attractive this man was. In a way, Avalon had once been the picture of health and masculinity several months ago. He felt ashamed of being so weak.

And very afraid for this Adonis's face was carved with slightest hint of displeasure and anger.

"So you are the real Professor Avalon?" the statue said.

"…yes, but you don't need to call me 'professor,'" Avalon said. It had been so long since he had talked. His voice was like cracked glass.

The statue did not move or seem affected. His sharp gaze made him nervous.

Avalon yawned but waited, wondering what the man wanted. He supposed that he really should not have left the hospital. He grabbed the railing and tried to pull himself up to maybe attempt a handshake or some form of niceties. He tried several times before suddenly, he felt a strong arm around him pull him up. Avalon looked to his left to see the profile of the Adonis.

The Adonis was helping him stand up.

The statue put his left arm over his shoulder. Avalon could help but think that the muscles he felt under the thin shirt were hard as steel. The grip around his back was confident as it held him. It was also immensely warm.

"I…thank you," Avalon said nervously.

"Where do you want to go?"

"I…to my room in the hospital."

"We'll walk at your pace then. Can you walk?"

"Yes."

The Adonis was neither too fast nor too slow. He also did not talk much either. From his peripheral, he could see that the handsome man was still crossed about something. He supposed that the other man could only imagine what his doppelganger had done in his place, and not what he had actually gone through.

"Are you angry at me?" Avalon asked. If he was, Avalon would argue why the Adonis should not.

"No," he said succinctly.

"Then why do you seem angry?"

There was a lengthy pause. Avalon wondered if the other man had heard his question or had decided to ignore it. Finally, he said, "I'm angry at myself."

Avalon was perplexed by the statement. "Why?"

"I was a dimwit. I did something idiotic and I am paying the ultimate price for it now."

Avalon suppressed a yawn out of politeness and tried to listen. He was immensely tired, but he could sympathise with the man. Had he not gotten captured, his doppelganger could not have entered Alfea and kidnapped Bloom.

"I'm sure that the damage is not that bad," Avalon said to comfort him. "There are worst things." He wondered what this stoic man could have done.

"I believe that what I did is worst thing possible: I inadvertently let the Shadow Phoenix discover the way to Pixie Village."

Avalon almost fell from shock but the other man kept a firm grip on him.

"See," he continued, "I did the worst thing possible."

Boiling rage engulfed Avalon. How could this fool have let such a thing pass?

"Understandably, you are angry. And I am the one helping you bring you to your room. How ironic. I am an idiot for letting that thing get close to me…. But I'm paying for it right now. When this is all over, my career will be all over and I will probably be sent away. If not, I will leave on my own. I am obviously in no position to teach if I cannot tell the difference between an image of a man and the real thing."

Avalon swallowed hard. So he was just as concerned about his career as he was. He could not help but draw comparisons between himself and the Adonis.

The Adonis continued, "I swear sometimes that I am too idealistic. I am too nice. I should have never come to Magix."

Avalon was not sure of what question he wanted to ask. He was indeed angry but hearing the man speak with such shame in his voice was too much to bear. Certainly, he did not deserve to be fired for a mistake but he wanted to know one thing:

"What do you mean when you said it got 'close'?"

The Adonis made a pained face and sighed. "I became friends with it. I am a warrior before a scholar. Everything I know is from experience. I was starved for company that could understand my background. Even though Red Fountain is nearby, I could not just saunter in and make friends. I am, let's say, unwelcomed and have no business being there. Dealing with all these girls does get repetitive and everyone else is from a more scholarly upbringing. They are just colleagues and do not have the same experiences as I do. And so, I found a good friend and sparring partner in your doppelganger."

Avalon could rage no more.

"No man is an island," Avalon said. He knew that isolation could do horrible things to a man's psyche. He could understand his loneliness in this school.

Finally, they arrived at his room. The Adonis helped Avalon into bed.

"If you don't mind me asking," Avalon said, "what is your name?"

"I am Laiquarondan Palathenonion. I suggest that you just call me Palladium. It's easier."

Avalon chuckled. "That sounds elvish."

"I am."

"I'm sorry?"

The elf brushed hair behind his left ear. It had the distinct pointed feature of all elves. "I am an elf from the Kingdom of Berbelieth."

Exhausted, Avalon tried to remember what he knew about elves. "Isn't Berbelieth a closed kingdom?"

"Yes, I am an exile."

"So you plan to become an exile again by leaving Alfea?"

"Yes."

Avalon did not like this solution at all. "Don't. What happened to you was not your fault. If I had not gotten captured, none of this would have happened. I believe that there are much worst things than what you did." Avalon closed his eyes, not to sleep, but to banish the sight of the elf from his eyes. The elf was simply a victim of his foolishness. He wanted to beg for forgiveness.

"We'll see…. Good night, Avalon."

Palladium stepped out and closed the door behind him quietly. Avalon opened his eyes to see the golden elf gone. It was as if the Adonis had simply been a dream, and he might have been. Avalon went back to slept, deeply troubled.

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><p><strong>Latter Note:<strong> I am tired of Palladium looking like a pussy. Can anyone not imagine him as the stereotypical gay man for Avalon? I don't discourage homosexuality, but please stay away from making him camp gay. Give him some emotional depth.


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